Milky Way
by ChibiChibiBunny
Summary: After being plagued by vivid nightmares of Sephiroth, Marlene grows even closer to Cloud and develops conflicting feelings that Cloud can't return.


A/n: Hello all. I figured it was about time I started another chapter story. I wanted to do a pairing that hardly anyone has done. I don't know how many other people have done the Cloud and Marlene pairing. I didn't look because I didn't want to be influenced by their stories. In this story, it is five years after Advent Children, meaning Marlene is eleven. I didn't want her to be too young in this story. Please leave a review. Creative criticism is always welcome by me.

Chapter 1: Wishing on a Star

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"_Do you want to die?" he asked._

"_No…please." Marlene begged._

"_Where should I cut first? Your arms or your legs? Maybe that precious face of yours."_

"_But…" Marlene trailed off. _

_She tried to move but her body was frozen, rooted in that one spot. She had nowhere to run; all she could see was pitch black darkness. Marlene crumbled to the ground as if millions of shackles were weighing her down. All she could see was his feet and long silver locks of hair. He raised his sword and sliced, cutting off her arm. Marlene went numb._

"_I'm dreaming right!" she screamed to herself._

"_Maybe it is, maybe not. But one day I will make your nightmare a reality." he said._

_He continued to slice her limbs as Marlene screamed in pain. He only laughed at the little girl's pain. No emotion but pure sadistic pleasure was on his face._

"_Marlene."_

_She could hear his soothing voice but it sounded so far away._

"_Marlene."_

_It seemed nearer now and Marlene stopped screaming and just listened to the soothing voice. _

"Marlene!" Cloud said.

Marlene's eyes shot opened and she saw a worried looking Cloud next to her. Tears immediately filled her eyes as she saw Cloud. She sat up and hugged him, whimpering silently. She buried her face in his shoulder and cried softly. Cloud, not being the one to console too many people, was a little startled by Marlene's gesture. He gently patted her on the head to console her.

"What's wrong? Where you having a bad dream?" Cloud finally asked.

"Y-yes…" Marlene said between small sobs.

She scooted closer to Cloud and rested her head on his shoulders again.

"It was only a dream Marlene. Go back to sleep now." Cloud said, pulling away from her.

"But…but…Cloud…" Marlene stuttered.

"What were you dreaming about?" Cloud asked.

Marlene looked down at the ground, not wanting to recount her horrible nightmare.

"Do you miss Barrett?" Cloud asked.

Marlene shook her head yes. It had been a month since she had seen her father, and according to him he wouldn't be back for about three more weeks. Marlene wanted to see her father more than ever now. It killed her that she couldn't go with him to wherever he was going. So she leaned on Cloud for support, but he seemed as if he was pushing her away.

"It's okay Marlene, he'll be back." Cloud said.

"I know. But I haven't seen him in so long. I just want to spend time with him. Even if it's just for a little while, I want to be with him. I miss him so much." Marlene said, still teary eyed.

Cloud didn't know what to say to comfort her. He was far from a pro at that. He just patted her head again.

"Cloud…can you take me for a walk like you used to do?" Marlene asked sweetly, looking at him lovingly.

Cloud sighed. He was tired and would rather be asleep. But Marlene's teary eyes couldn't even bring Cloud to say no.

"Okay. But only for a little while." Cloud agreed.

Marlene smiled and followed Cloud out the 7th Heaven bar. They walked through the dark streets of Edge, to the grassy hill that Cloud liked to take Marlene to. Marlene plopped down on the hill and laid back, looking at the sky. Cloud sat down next to her and looked up at the sky. He thought of Zack and Aerith. He was silently asking them what to do about Marlene. He really didn't know what to do.

"Cloud…how do you know when you love someone?" Marlene asked.

Cloud was startled by the question. "Why?" he asked.

"I just want to know, that's all." Marlene said shyly.

"I really don't know." Cloud answered truthfully.

"You've never loved someone Cloud?" Marlene asked.

Cloud thought for a minute. "No." he lied.

He stared sadly at the sky.

"Look Cloud look! A shooting star!" Marlene yelled excitedly, tugging at his arm.

"Oh…make a wish." Cloud said, coming back to reality.

"I wish Daddy would come home soon." Marlene said sadly.

She sat still for a minute. Then she put her hand on Cloud's.

"You'll never leave me right Cloud?" Marlene asked cheerfully.

"Right." Cloud said. But he wasn't so sure he could always be there for Marlene. But he wasn't going to say no, because that would break the poor girl's heart.

Marlene wrapped her little arms around Cloud, wishing she could never let go of him. Cloud got a little embarrassed at the little girl's affection towards him. He put one arm around her in return. Marlene smiled, glad that he was actually returning her affection. That was a rare thing for Cloud to do.

"We should go back Marlene. It's late." Cloud said.

"Cloud I don't want to go to sleep." Marlene whined.

"It'll be okay." Cloud said.

"No it won't! You didn't see what I saw." Marlene said.

"Marlene you have to go to sleep again sometime." Cloud said.

"No I don't! I'll just never sleep again." Marlene said stubbornly.

"You'll get sick." Cloud said.

Marlene burst into tears. "Cloud, don't make me go to sleep!" Marlene begged.

"Marlene don't cry. It's okay. You don't have to go to sleep then." Cloud said.

Marlene wiped her eyes, not believing him in the least. She looked at him suspiciously. Cloud sighed. He was desperately asking Aerith what he should do with this poor child. He couldn't sympathize, his father died when he was little, so he didn't know what it felt like to miss him. He then felt a slight pang of jealousy for Marlene.

"You mean you never had a dream so bad that you didn't want to go to sleep?" Marlene asked, looking down.

Cloud thought for a minute. Aerith's death gave him nightmares so bad that he hardly ever slept for a while. He touched Marlene's hand.

"Yeah. But there isn't anything you can do about it." Cloud said.

Marlene sobbed some more. "Why?" she asked.

"I don't know Marlene." was all Cloud could say.

He couldn't find the words to comfort Marlene. All he could do was look at her sadly.

_Cloud, just hug her._

Cloud looked around, familiar with that voice. Aerith…

Cloud wrapped his arms around Marlene, as he was told. Marlene blushed pink as she felt Cloud's arms around her. She hugged him back and smiled. She rested her head on his shoulder and suddenly wished they could just go to sleep right there. Cloud stayed there, wondering if Aerith was going to tell him something else.

_Cloud, just do what you think is right._

Cloud was a little confused by her answer. He didn't know what was right anymore. He squeezed Marlene even tighter, and she had never felt so safe.

"Cloud, you're so warm." Marlene said lovingly. "Don't ever let me go."

"Okay." Cloud said, smiling for once in his life.

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"YOOOO CLOOOOOUD!" came the voice of a loud female voice.

Cloud groaned. That loud voice was unmistakable. He didn't even look at the door as Yuffie oh so casually waltzed into the 7th Heaven bar as if it were her house. Tifa smiled.

"Hi Yuffie." Tifa said nicely, even though her hands were twitching.

"YUFFIE!" Marlene yelled as she ran and hugged Yuffie lovingly.

"Marlene, hi! I have a message from your pops!" Yuffie said, hugging Marlene. "By the way Cloud, he said he's been trying to call you but you're not answering your phone."

"Cloud?" Marlene asked sadly.

"My phone hasn't rang once in the past three days." Cloud lied.

He didn't want to admit that he wasn't taking Barrett's calls because he didn't want to hear those five dreadful words. "I'm taking Marlene with me."

The truth was, since that night, Marlene and Cloud had grown attached to each other like never before. For the past three days Marlene told him about her problems and worries. It seems that Marlene was hiding all her problems behind her cheery and worry free exterior. She was hurting inside, much like Cloud was way back when. He tried his best to console her, but his words weren't all that powerful. All he could do really was hug her and tell her it was all right.

"He said he'll be home later than he thought. Probably about five more weeks." Yuffie said.

Marlene's expression changed from joy to sadness. It killed Cloud to see her face fall like that.

"I see." was all Marlene said as she looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry Marlene. I guess these things happen." Yuffie said shrugging.

"Did he say where he was?" Marlene asked.

"No. He didn't. He probably isn't staying in one place for a long time so it wouldn't help us any if he told us." Yuffie said.

"Okay. I think I'll go for a walk." Marlene said, not looking up.

"Marlene…" Cloud said softly.

But Marlene was already out the door. Yuffie sighed and shook her head. Cloud sighed. He was about to go after her but the phone rang. He picked it up and was slightly annoyed to hear Reno's voice.

"Our boss wants to see you." was all he said.

"Why?" Cloud asked.

"You can ask him that when you get here." Reno said dumbly.

Cloud slammed the phone down, causing Yuffie to jump.

"Who was it?" Yuffie asked.

"No one." Cloud said as he walked out the door.

Yuffie slowly went to the phone and called the number back, just to be safe.

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Marlene slowly twirled a flower around on her small fingertips. Tears spilled onto the flower. Marlene wanted more than ever to see her father now. The church was silent as night, despite the fact that it was daylight outside. The sun shone on the flowers through the hole in the roof. Marlene laid back in the bed of flowers growing right next to the water that had not dried up in five years.

"I knew you'd be here Marlene." a voice said from behind her.

Marlene turned around to see Cloud. She smiled through her tears, comforted by his presence.

"Marlene I know you're upset but you shouldn't run off like that." Cloud said, walking over to her.

"But Cloud you don't get it. I've been close to daddy all my life…but now…" Marlene said, choking up.

"Marlene, we're here for you." Cloud said.

"No one can replace my daddy." Marlene said.

Cloud sighed. "We aren't good enough?"

Marlene gasped. "You know that's not true!" Marlene yelled.

"It's okay Marlene. I really haven't been paying attention to anyone lately. I'm really not good enough. You're right." Cloud said.

Marlene went over and kicked Cloud painfully in the shin. He bit his lip to keep from yelping in pain. This little girl had a mean kick.

"That's not true! You all mean the world to me too!" Marlene protested. She wrapped her arms around Cloud. "Don't go thinking things like that."

Cloud was at a loss for words. This tiny body spoke such big words to him. He couldn't believe it.

"I still want to know how you know when you're in love with someone." Marlene said.

"You're a kid Marlene. You don't have worry about things like that for a long time." Cloud said.

"That's not true. I think kids can be in love too, just like adults." Marlene said.

"Do you love someone Marlene?" Cloud asked.

Marlene bit her lip and blushed. "I'm not sure." Marlene said.

"Who is it?" Cloud asked.

"No one." Marlene said.

"Marlene you're really young. You don't have to think about things like that. Wait until you're older okay." Cloud said.

"But when I'm older…he'll be…" Marlene trailed off.

Cloud bent down to Marlene's height and patted her head.

"It's okay. Just wait, and by then you'll understand your feelings." Cloud said.

Marlene's eyes began to water.

"Is it Denzel?" Cloud asked.

Marlene shook her head no. She couldn't tell him the truth.

"Then who is it Marlene? Is it one of the neighborhood kids?" he asked.

"C-Cloud stop it." Marlene begged.

The whole thing was starting to get very awkward. She placed her small hands on his shoulders and looked at the ground.

"He's a nice person…really…I think I do love him but…he couldn't love me. It wouldn't be right." Marlene said.

"Why not?" Cloud asked.

"He's so much older." Marlene said quietly.

She was dropping really obvious hints but Cloud still didn't get it.

"How old is he?" Cloud asked.

Marlene looked at the ground, twiddling her thumbs.

"He is a minor right?" Cloud asked worriedly. He was afraid of the answer.

"He's about…twenty-eight...I think." Marlene said softly.

"Marlene he's as old as me!? He's old enough to be your dad!?" Cloud exclaimed.

Marlene burst into tears again. "You think so too! You know…he wouldn't…" Marlene began crying so hard that her words couldn't be understood. She leaned her head on Cloud's shoulder, her cries echoing through the church.

"Marlene, don't cry. Now you have to tell me who he is now. It's for your safety." Cloud said.

Cloud strained his brain to think of all the guys he knew that were the same age as he was. Reno immediately popped into his head but he realized he had no idea how old he was, and that Marlene once said Reno frightened her. She had never met Rude. No one else came to mind.

"I can't Cloud…" Marlene cried.

"Is it someone I know?" Cloud asked. The thought of her loving some older guy he didn't know frightened him.

"Maybe…" Marlene said.

"Tell me Marlene. I won't leave you alone until you do." Cloud said.

"You're so mean Cloud." Marlene cried, burying her face in his shoulder.

Cloud hugged Marlene to him, knowing that forcing her was not going to get him anywhere. Marlene whispered something inaudible.

"What?" Cloud asked.

"Cloud…I…" she started.

"You what?" Cloud asked.

"It's you. I love you." Marlene said softly.

"What?" Cloud asked, pulling her away and looking her in the eye.

Marlene looked at the ground, lip twitching as if she was going to cry again. "You don't believe me?" Marlene asked.

All that was running through Cloud's mind was the image of Barrett shoving his giant gun arm up his ass when he heard this.

A/n: Well that is the end of the first chapter. More is to come. Please leave a review because I don't want to continue a story that no one likes. Please read my other stories too if you have the time. I hope to explain the purpose of the title in the next chapter. Thank you and until next time…


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